Lanza Search Warrants

Lanza Search Warrants

MARCH 28--A police search of school shooter Adam Lanza’s home turned up a cache of guns, knives, swords, and ammo, eight journals authored by the 20-year-old gunman, a National Rifle Association certificate issued to the mass murderer, and an NRA guide to the “basics of pistol shooting.”

Search warrant inventories released today detail the items seized from the Sandy Hook, Connecticut home Lanza shared with his mother Nancy. The searches were conducted following Lanza’s December 14 shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

According to the inventories, police found these items in Lanza’s residence:

*Three photos “with images of what appears to be a deceased human covered with plastic and what appears to be blood.”

* A New York Times article about a “school shooting at Northern Illinois University.” In February 2008, a former NIU student shot five victims to death and injured 21 others inside a lecture hall before killing himself.

* An “NRA guide to the basics of pistol shooting.” Two books about Asperger’s syndrome were also taken from home of Lanza, who reportedly suffered from the developmental disorder. One of the books is a memoir by John Elder Robison about living with Asperger’s. After the Sandy Hook shooting, Robison wrote a Psychology Today article debunking the claim that Asperger’s can turn someone into a mass murderer.

The inventories contain no references to medications purportedly prescribed to Lanza.

The documents also reveal that Connecticut police turned over to the FBI material including Lanza’s “personal writings” and “personal memorabilia,” and a “military-style uniform” found in the killer’s bedroom.

Affidavits included in the search warrant applications include references to an FBI interview with a witness (whose name is redacted) who described Lanza as a “shut in and avid gamer who plays Call of Duty, amongst other games." The witness added that Lanza had attended Sandy Hook Elementary School and that the institution was his "life."

Additionally, the affidavits provide a brief account of what police discovered upon entering the elementary school. Lanza was found “dressed in military style clothing, wearing a bullet proof vest lying deceased in the floor in the middle classroom.” He was “in possession of several handguns as well as a military style assault weapon.”

The documents were released this morning by the Connecticut Judicial Branch. The search warrants--one for the car Lanza drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School and four for the residence (seen above) he shared with his 52-year-old mother--were executed following the December 14 shooting.

After shooting his mother Nancy to death in their Sandy Hook home, Lanza drove a 2010 Honda Civic to the Newtown school, where he used a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle to murder 20 children and six adults (before killing himself with a Glock handgun). Investigators recovered 154 spent .223-caliber shell casings inside the school.

On the day of the shooting, police searched Lanza’s car and executed two separate warrants at his Yogananda Street residence. On December 15, a third search was conducted at the home. The final warrant was executed at the home on December 16, and included authorization to search Nancy Lanza’s BMW, which was parked in an attached garage. (8 pages)